The smell of cookies, the hairpiece of Mr. Jervis, the remains of a half-eaten meal, probably interrupted by our visit, candlelight, the creak of steps on the wooden floor, a clock ticking. How was life in the home of a family of Huguenot silk weavers? The answer can be found in the hallways and candle-lit rooms of the home of Dennis Severs, which painter David Hockney described as one of the world’s greatest operas. The home, situated at number 18 Folgate Street, in fact, is more than a simple time capsule. It is an intimate and authentic portrait of the life of a family of weavers and their descendants from 1724 to 1914. The intention of the owner, American Dennis Severs - who, many years later, lived there and painstakingly furnished the house, reproducing scenes of past daily life throughout - was to show the public of today the fortunes of the Jervis family and its descendants. This is done with by resetting the environs, odours and whispers dear this abode when it was lived in almost 300 years ago. Tiptoeing across its threshold is like stepping across a picture frame and visiting the building is like sliding across the surface of a painting. It is a gathering of spirits and atmospheres that capture the light and soul of another age.
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